Raac-affected buildings at St Leonard's School, Durham, to be demolished

School buildings affected by RAAC at St Leonard's School, Durham, will be demolished. Credit: LDRS

Buildings affected by Raac will be demolished as part of a major redevelopment at a County Durham school.

Hundreds of students at St Leonard’s Catholic School, Durham, have been taught in temporary accommodation since the discovery of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) in 2023.

Since Raac was discovered on site, the buildings have been deemed unsafe.

Durham County Council has now approved a planning application to start the demolition.

The majority of the school’s existing buildings will be demolished, except for Springwell Hall and the Sixth Form building, which are unaffected by Raac. They will be retained as part of the new development.

The new school site will include a sports hall, assembly hall, and dining hall as well as a wide range of departments, including specialist teaching spaces for art, technology, and music at ground floor level.

In addition, general teaching spaces for maths and English, and the other core curriculum subjects including science labs will be provided on the upper floors.

Demolition work is due to start in the coming weeks and into the summer holidays. Demolition of the EFAB building will commence in August 2026 after asbestos removal.

One household, which lives next to the school, warned of being surrounded by building works.

Residents, including the City of Durham Trust, also objected to the amount of trees due to be felled as part of the demolition works.

Speaking after the plans were submitted in May, Labour candidate for City of Durham Mary Kelly Foy praised the work of pupils, parents, and staff.

She said: “This new, impressive school will be the silver lining to a Raac-loaded cloud that has hung over St Leonard’s for the last nine months."

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